


Powerless

by Kiyoko18



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), The Flash - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Altered Mental States, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Birdflash Week 2019, Blood and Injury, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapped Wally, M/M, Major Character Injury, Men Crying, Stalking, Threats of Violence, Tumblr: Birdflash Network's DickWally Week, Wally West Whump, dickwally week 2019, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-09 18:06:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19481206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiyoko18/pseuds/Kiyoko18
Summary: Wally didn’t take it seriously at first. After all the first incident of this entire nightmare was just a simple note in his locker, something that happens a lot in high school.I know who you are.Wally quirked an eyebrow, squinting at the note. “The hell?”





	Powerless

**Author's Note:**

> And this brings us to the end of Birdflash week. The Prompt: Free day. And while this is late, its certainly worth the wait. Enjoy.

Wally didn’t take it seriously at first. After all the first incident of this entire nightmare was just a simple note in his locker, something that happens a lot in high school.

**_I know who you are._**

Wally quirked an eyebrow, squinting at the note. “The hell?”

“Yo, West, you coming or what?”

Wally turned his attention to his classmate. “Yeah, yeah. Let me just grab my stuff real quick.”

Wally shoved the note and the books he needed into his bag at took off, hurrying to catch up to his friends.

He didn’t give the note another though for some time, even when his teammates found it when the note fell out of his backpack at Mount Justice.

M’gann was the one who picked it out and opened it. “…Wally, what is this?”

Wally was chilling on the couch, head resting in his boyfriend, Dick’s, lap, when M’gann asked. He reached out a hand, indicating to her to hand him the note. She did and upon realizing it was the note from before, Wally just rolled his eyes, crumpled the note up and threw it at a nearby garbage can.

“Eh, it’s nothing. Some dumb kid at school making a bad joke.”

Kaldur picked up the note and opened it to read it. “…Are you sure, Wally. This seems--”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s probably someone playing a mean joke or something. Maybe someone found out I was bi and decided to antagonize me for it.”

This caught Conner’s attention. “So, you’re just going to let him continue to bug you?”

Wally shrugged. “I can’t exactly trace it back to anyone. I found that in my locker. Anyone could have put it in.”

His teammates are not very happy about that answer. Wally decides to put their fears to rest in the only way he knows how. A dumb joke.

“Besides, that note could mean anything. Maybe there’s a cute girl or boy who knows I’m the man of their dreams.”

Dick slapped his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Ass.”

Wally sat up and gave his boyfriend a kiss. “Aww, Baby-bird you know I’ve only got eyes for you.~”

“Love you too, Walls.”

His teammates rolled their eyes or went back to what they were doing. No one gave it another though.

* * *

That’s how it started, a few weird notes, which could easily be dismissed as dumb high school stuff.

Then a package arrived at his house, for him.

Wally’s mom came into his room, holding out a manila envelope to him. “Sweetie, this came in the mail for you.”

“Thanks mom,” He took the envelope and she left again.

When he opened the envelope, however, the contents that slipped out onto his bed sparked a pang of anxiety into his stomach. There were pictures this time. Of him walking home from school, going between classes, hanging out with friends, and, even more bone chilling, of him out on missions as Kid Flash.

Wally felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

_No, I was careful. No one could have figured it out I’m Kid Flash, I was careful._

Wally frantically went through the pictures. Then he let out a small breath of relief when he noticed that nothing in any of them looked particularly incriminating. Nothing gave anything away. To an outsider, the pictures would have seemed coincidental or even mutually exclusive to each other. There was nothing that anyone could use against him.

Wally calmed down a bit, before starting to worry about the other problem. _Someone_ was following him around and had found out where he lived.

Wally snatched up the manila envelope and flipped it over, looking for some type of return address.

Nothing, not so much as a name or zip code.

Wally jumped out of bed and ran out to the living room where his mom was.

“H-Hey, mom. Did…Did that package have a return address on it. Like on a paper slip or something?”

“Uhh, I don’t think so. Why is something wrong?”

Wally paused for a moment, looking his mom in the eye. 

His family never wanted to be a part of the hero life. Barry did, Wally did, Iris understood and supported it, even if she didn’t join herself, but Wally’s parents wanted normal lives. He couldn’t drag them into this, especially when there wasn’t any concrete evidence that they were in any danger.

Wally smiled. “No, nothings wrong. It was just a Superman poster. Now that I think about it, Uncle Barry probably sent it to me.”

Wally’s mom smiled and laughed. “Oh, ok. Well make sure you tell him thank you, you hear me, young man.”

“Yeah, sure. No problem mom.”

Wally went back to his room and shut the door. He glared at the pictures on the bed and started shoving them back into the envelope when a small note fell out. Wally slowly picked the note up and opened it.

**_I know who you are Wally. I know you’re Kid Flash._**

Wally’s breath froze in his chest. This freak knew his _name_. He knew his name, where he went to school, and where he _lived_.

Wally shoved the note into the envelope and scanned his room for something that could destroy this crap. His eyes settled on his paper shredder. He crossed his room in the blink of an eye and shoved it in. He could feel the tension in his back fade away at the sound of the pictures being shredded into a thousand pieces.

Fuck whoever this was. Wally wasn’t scared of them.

Wally sat on his bed and worked on steadying his breathing.

It was just pictures and a note. This creep wasn’t going to do anything. Wally wouldn’t let him. He was Kid Flash, partner to the Fastest Man alive, this guy wouldn’t scare him.

Wally looked over his shoulder, noticing that his curtains were open, letting the daylight in. He jumped up and closed them.

…. Everything would be fine. He’d be more careful about his surroundings and keep an eye out for any suspicious characters. This is basic level stuff for a superhero. Eventually this guy will get bored. He’s got this.

…He’s totally got this.

* * *

Wally let it go for a while. He didn’t change any of his regular routines, he was just more aware, that was it. Not a big issue.

Hell, he even got praise for it occasionally. Uncle Barry gave him a slap on the back when Wally saw Captain Boomerang before he did. He said he was proud of Wally for being so on the ball lately.

Even the team started to notice. When Wally pointed out a few extra men that Dick missed, they able to neutralize them along with the others, actually fulfilling the _covert_ part of their covert mission, for once. With the improvement in the team’s mission record, along with the fact that they had fewer individual reports and even Batman gave them the occasional grunt of approval, they had more time to have fun and hang out. Even Artemis was being nice to him, it was great.

The packages kept coming though. Not super frequently but they were still coming and so were the notes in his locker. He at the very least reported some of the notes to the school, the ones that maybe didn’t pose a threat to his secret ID. He figured that they might keep an eye on who was coming into the school and leaving the notes.

The school essentially told him to man up, because the notes weren’t threating, there was no way to trace them back to anyone, and they couldn’t waste the resources to find out whether or not some stranger was leaving notes in some high-school boy’s locker. They even went as far as to tell him that it was probably some girl trying to get his attention and that he should relax.

So that shook Wally’s confidence a bit, but he carried on. In a way, they were right. None of the notes were at all threatening, just creepy.

Not that that really made him feel all that better.

Especially once the notes and pictures started getting more personal.

A picture of him smiling in his Chemistry class during a lab had, “ ** _You seem to really like chemistry, Wally. You must be really smart._** ” Written on the back of it.

A picture of him at the arcade with friends; “ ** _Do you like videogames Wally? You seem like you’re having fun._** ”

A picture of him running in P.E., he had just come in third or fourth, behind several of his classmates; “ ** _You’re better than them Wally, you shouldn’t have to hide that._** ”

Wally knew this was weird. He knew that these note and pictures were really creepy. But this person was thorough and mad e absolutely sure that nothing could be traced back to him. So, Wally tried to roll his eyes and ignore it. He’d shove the envelopes into the shredder just like the first one, resolving to be more vigilant.

Then one particular package came.

Wally opened it and went through the pictures, as per usual. He went through the pictures, trying to find something that could clue him in on who this person is, when a stumbled across it.

A picture of him, as Kid Flash, in a flight with Captain Cold that he had a week ago. He had slipped and fell on a trail of black ice Cold had laid out. For a second, Cold had him cornered, ice gun pointed at him. That particular moment was immortalized in the piece of piece of paper. On the back it said; “ ** _Wally you need to be more careful. Your speed doesn’t have much traction on ice, and you could have hurt your legs. You can’t run if your legs are sprained or broken and you can’t heal as fast._** ”

Wally wanted to throw up. _This freak knew what his fucking weaknesses were!_

Wally snatched up the photos and put them back in the envelope. He was about to shred this one too, but the realization came to him that this time he actually might want to keep this as evidence. So, he hides it in his closet.

From then on, he didn’t open the packages anymore. He just automatically placed them into the closet and out of his mind.

This--Wally had to admit it now-- stalker hadn’t tried anything yet. And if he did, Wally would be ready. He could handle this. This guy just wanted attention, so Wally wouldn’t give it to them.

He could deal with this. He’d dealt with world ending crisis’s, complete psychopaths, and some of the worst scum on the planet. This was nothing.

* * *

This went on for awhile longer, and for a while, things were ok. Wally remained vigilant for any suspicious characters and ignored the notes and packages, deciding to either throw them away immediately or put them in his closet with the others. He didn’t read them.

This actually did wonders for his anxiety. Not knowing what that psycho was watching helped, in a way.

He hung out with his school friends, when out with his team for fun outings, and went on dates with Dick.

Hanging out with his boyfriend and his teammates, arguably part of his family, did wonders for him. Hanging out, bonding with them, and just being around each other made him feel … safe. Like they were unbeatable together, and that was enough to put most of his fears to rest.

Then, one night, Wally got home late. His mom and dad were already in bed, so he snuck into the kitchen to get some food before going to his room and finding a note on his door.

_Hey Son,_

_Your mother found a package for you this afternoon on the doorstep._

_It says its urgent, so make sure you open it when you get home, alright._

  * _Dad_



Wally wanted to roll his eyes but went into his room and found the mentioned package on the bed. Same manila envelope, but this time it had **OPEN IMMEDIATELY** , written in big letters on the front.

Wally swallowed the lump in his throat and shakily opened the folder. Inside were more pictures of him, this time with messages that seemed a lot angrier. Guess this guy must have figured out Wally was ignoring him.

Then one particular picture caught his eye. It was a picture of him and Dick, or at least he though it was Dick. While his image was relatively unmarked, the other person’s face was completely scratched out. Upon closer inspection of the photo, Wally notice that the other image was wearing Dick’s trademark designer hoodie and jeans.

And this photo was taken at the date Dick and he had almost three days ago, in _Gotham_. They were at the same ice-cream shop, sharing the same jumbo-sized sundae, and Wally was had his spoon stuck to his nose like a doofus.

_What the actual fuck!!_

The message on the back was just as bad; “ ** _Who the fuck is this, Wally!? Do you even know who this guy is?! He’s not fucking good enough for you! You should know better!!_** ”

Wally’s breath quickened. This freak had followed him all the way to Gotham and back.

Just as the panic started to rise in his chest, his phone buzzed. He slowly picked it up, wondering who could be calling him at this hour. It was an unrecognized number. Hesitantly, against any sense of better judgement he had, Wally answered the call and brought it to his ear.

“…Hello?”

“ **Did you get my packages, Wally?** ” An ominous, computerized voice answered from the other end.

Wally yelped in terror, ended the call and threw his phone across the room.

_HOW DID THIS PSYCHO GET HIS PHONE NUMBER?!_

Wally could feel himself start to hyperventilate, and tears were streaming down his face. What did he do, what did he do, what didhedo,whatdidhedo?

Suddenly the phone started buzzing again, same unrecognized number. Wally lunged for the phone, canceled the call, blocked the number, and turned the phone off.

Then he just sunk to the floor. What did he do now? This bastard knew where he lived, knew what his weaknesses were, knew his phone number, _he even knew who he was dati_ —

Oh, god. _DICK_! Would this guy hurt him? He seemed really mad to find out Wally was dating him. But he also followed him back to Central, so he couldn’t have been too focused on Dick, right?

Wally was exhausted and he wanted to puke. _Why wouldn’t this person leave him alone?_

* * *

Wally’s stalker ended up changing their number. Several times, because Wally would block the new ones. And every time a new unidentified number called Wally’s phone; Wally prayed that it wasn’t them. Every time, that prayer went unanswered, and Wally heard that same ominous, robotic voice on the other end.

Eventually, Wally stopped answering calls from unidentified numbers, and would just block them if they come up.

But the damage was done, and Wally started getting super paranoid. He was anxious, easily distracted, absent minded, and he was always looking over his shoulder, into the bushes or behind corners.

Soon enough, everyone started to notice. It was hard not to when Wally seem out of it on missions, or even when they were just hanging around Mount Justice. Barry and Dick, actually all his teammates at one point or another, started asking him if he was ok and if sometimes wrong. Brushed them off, telling them that it was just school or something.

Then his paranoia actually started to affect his field performance and after the third mission in a row, where they were assigned individual field reports for something dumb he did, his friends were a bit fed up.

They confronted him.

“What the hell, Baywatch!” Artemis shouted.

Wally flinched, as he didn’t see her coming up behind him. “Ugh, listen, I’m sorry I screwed up back there. My bad. It won’t happen again.”

“You said that last time.” Connor quipped,

“And the time before that.” Artemis added.

“Well, this time I mean it! It won’t happen again. Now can I just—”

“Wally,” Kaldur cut him off. “There is clearly something on your mind that has been bothering you for a while.”

“We’re worried,” M’gann followed up, “You’ve been really out of it and while I haven’t read your mind, I’ve been sensing that you’re really … scared of something.”

That caught everybody’s attention and they all looked at him expectantly.

Dick came up to him and took his hand in his. “Wally you can talk to us if something’s bothering you.”

Wally looked at each of them, each face holding a different level of concern.

“…Well…I—”

Suddenly his phone went off, and he jumped, clenching down _hard_ on Dick’s hand.

“OW! Wally, what the hell?”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to—”

Wally looked down at his phone. Another anonymous phone number. Wally quickly ended the call.

“Who was that?” Kaldur asked

Wally glance to the floor. “Wrong number.”

“So, you nearly broke your boyfriend’s hand over a wrong number.” Artemis snarked.

“It was an accident! I didn’t mean to.”

The clenching feeling in his chest was back as he caught sight of Dick nurturing his aching hand.

He needed to go, or he was going to be sick.

“I … I’m sorry, I have to go.” And he ran through the zeta-tube, Dick barely calling out his name before he was drowned out by the automated voice of the tube announcing his exit.

Before exiting the phone booth, the tube spit him out at, Wally’s phone rang again, same number as before.

Wally felt rage build up in his chest. Fuck this creep, Fuck his creepy notes, fuck him for making him feel unsafe in places he should be, _Fuck_ _him for making him fuck up on missions and for hurting Dick_.

Wally answered the call and started yelling into the receiver.

“I DON’T KNOW WHO THE HELL YOU ARE, AND I DON’T FUCKING CARE! LEAVE ME ALONE YOU PSYCHOPATH. YOU CREEP. YOU FUCKING STALKER, I FUCKING HATE YOU AND ALL YOUR STUPID CREEPY NOTES. ROT IN HELL AND LEAVE ME ALONE YOU FUCKING FREAK!”

Wally started gulping down breaths, ignoring the tears streaming freely down his face and the rock that currently resided in his stomach. He listened for a reply.

But he got nothing. The receiver was silent for a moment and then the other person ended the call.

Wally was shocked, but he couldn’t bring himself to care too much and blocked the number again. He was so tired. He just went home and collapsed on his bed, barely spending a couple seconds to send Dick a text saying; ‘ _Hey Dickie, I’m so sorry I hurt your hand and just ran off like that. I was being an ass. I’m having a hard time in school and with my role as Barry’s partner. It doesn’t excuse how I’ve been acting, but I really am sorry. I hope you’re ok. I love you.’_ , before dosing off.

He woke up a couple hours later to find a text from Dick.

‘ _Hey Walls, my hand is fine don’t worry. Alfred checked it out and it’s not even sprained. I was honestly just worried about you when you took off. It kinda freaked me out. If you’re having a hard time, you should tell me and the team. We all know what it’s like to balance a normal life with ‘the life’, you know. We’re your friends Wally. Take care of yourself. Love you too <3._’

Wally smiled.

* * *

Three weeks. Three blissful weeks. No packages, no creepy calls, not even a single weird note in his locker. Wally was ecstatic.

His teammates notice of their friend’s good mood almost immediately. They were glad, especially once his good mood resulted in better mission performance.

Things got so much better around Mount Justice, home, and school. Wally felt like it was too good to be true.

He lived his life just as before. Going on dates with Dick, patrolling with Barry and hanging out with the team. Wally thought that it was over.

Thought, being the operative word in that sentence.

One day, Wally was walking home from a successful mission. He had just gotten out of the zeta-tube and had walked a few blocks when he noticed.

Someone, in a hoodie and ballcap, walking behind him.

Wally didn’t think much of it at first. It could have been completely coincidental.

But several blocks and multiple turns later, the person was still behind him, and actually getting closer. Wally picked up the pace, anxiety rising in his chest. _No, this is all in his head. That creep actually hasn’t made any attempt to contact him face to face._

Wally’s anxiety spiked when the person started speed walking to keep up with him. Wally looked around and saw several people on the street. He couldn’t just take off running, too many witnesses and if this was who he thought this was, this would only confirm this freak’s suspicions.

They’d have concrete evidence of his secret identity.

But that’d didn’t mean that Wally couldn’t fake being an average runner.

Wally started running, no where near his top speed, but fast enough to put some distance between him and the other person. To his horror the guy started running too and was gaining on him fast. Wally’s breathing started to pick up and his eyes darted around for a method of escape.

Wally turned a corner and saw an alleyway. Wally ducked into it and found a dumpster that he could hide behind. There he waited, keeping an ear out for his pursuer, waiting for him to pass by.

A minute passed by, then two. Wally waited, ears straining, for the sound of footsteps.

Nothing. Nothing but the sound of the city life.

Wally waited for a couple extra seconds, just to make sure, but when he still heard nothing, he stood up from his crouching position and let out a sigh of relief. They were gone.

…At least he though they were.

“ _Wally_.” A hoarse voice rasped out, behind him.

Wally gasped and whirled around. He was there, lest than six feet away, hoodie and baseball cap covering their eyes. The air in Wally’s chest ceased up, hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and his hands felt cold and clammy.

The strange man, yes it was a man, Wally could definitely see that much, took a step toward him. Wally stumbled back, backing himself against the wall of the building. Nowhere for him to run. The man got closer, and Wally suddenly really wished that he could vibrate through solid objects. At this point, Wally would just ram his way through the wall to get away.

But he couldn’t move. His joints had locked, and limbs were just frozen. Wally couldn’t hear anything but his own heartbeat pounding in his ears and this guy’s shallow, raspy breathing. His mind was blank and _what was he supposed to do!_

The man was so close now, Wally could smell his breath as it ghosted against his face.

Tears started to force themselves from his eyes and whimpered out, “What the hell do you want?”

The man did nothing. He just started at him.

“Well!” Wally choked out, tears freely flowing now.

At first, the man still did nothing, but then he slowly began to reach for something in his hoodie pocket.

This movement finally triggered Wally’s survival instinct. This guy knew everything, including his weaknesses. Wally didn’t want to know what he had in his pocket.

“GET AWAY!” Wally kicked him, hard, in the ribs and took off. He didn’t stop, he ran as fast as _humanly_ possible straight home.

His parents weren’t there, so Wally ran straight to his room and threw himself on the bed. He sobbed into his pillow, clutching it like letting go would be letting go of his safety line tethering him to reality.

This couldn’t continue. That was _too_ close. He needed help, he needed…

Wally suddenly launched himself out of bed and ran to the closet and pulled out the envelopes. Then he ran straight to Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris’ house.

Once he got there he pounded on their door, he was lucky hadn’t knocked it down.

Iris hurriedly answered the door. “Wally, what on earth are you--?”

One look at her nephews’ tears streaked face and shaking frame, was enough to silence her question. She ushered Wally in trying to ask what was wrong, but he was talking too fast.

She sighed and brought Wally to the couch. “Barry! Could you come down here please?”

Barry came down the steps, smile falling when he saw a crying Wally on his couched. He was in front of his nephew in the blink of an eye.

“Wally, son, what’s wrong?”

Wally started talking again, but he was still talking way too fast for Iris to understand.

Barry gently put his hands-on Wally’s shoulders. “Wally, _Wally_ , hold on and breath. _Breath_.”

Wally gulped down several breaths, which calmed him down enough to explain.

“B-Barry, I need your help.” Wally gave them the envelopes and told them everything, about the packages, the phone-calls, and the notes and pictures.

Barry frantically went through the envelopes, looking at every note and picture, and getting more and more angry and afraid as he did so. This guy know Wally’s secret I.D.. This psycho knows his _nephew’s secret identity._ Who did this sick fuck think he was?

Barry tried to keep his voice level. “Wally when did this start? How long has this been going on?”

Wally’s lip trembled. “…Four months.”

“Four months!” Barry nearly shouted, “This has been happening for four months and you never told us!”

Wally buried his face in his hand for a moment. “I know, I know it was dumb! I should have told you earlier.”

“You should have told me the instant this started. Wally, this guy knows your secret identity. _That’s dangerous_.”

“ _Barry_ , please give Wally a chance to explain.” Iris put a hand on Barry’s shoulder and had him sit down.

Wally nervously rubbed his hands together. “It started out with just notes in my locker. I though it was just a dumb joke.” He wiped some of the tears from his eyes. “But then the pictures started to come a-and the messages got…weirder. I though this was just some random guy, he might have known who I was, but he didn’t seem to have any condemning evidence. I – I though I could handle him.”

“Wally when your secret I.D. compromised doesn’t matter if the person has good evidence. You tell someone. Especially, if you don’t know who this guy is or what he could do with that information.”

Wally looked to the floor, eyes watering again. “…I’m sorry, Uncle Barry.”

Barry glanced at Wally, who was being comforted by Iris. He took a deep breath. “Listen Wally, I’m … not mad at you. I’m disappointed, but not mad, not at you. I’m mad at this guy and I’m also really worried. We don’t know who he even is. When was the last time he made contact with you?”

“…Technically a couple hours ago. He…I caught him stalking me while I was walking home. He ended … ended up cornering me in an ally. I only managed to get away when he reached for something in his pocket.”

Wally’s eyes were trained on the floor, but he did notice Iris put a hand to her mouth and gasp while Barry angrily ran a hand through his hair.

“I’m calling Hal.” Barry got up and pulled out his phone. “I’ll have him get some of the League together s we can talk about how we’re going to take care of this.”

“Wait! Barry, it that really necessa—”

“Wally, this isn’t notes or pictures anymore! This guy could have attacked you!”

Wally wilted a bit.

Barry sighed again. “…Wally, whoever this guy is, he’s dangerous. I don’t want him to hurt you.”

Wally paused for a moment before nodding in understanding. Iris gave him a hug.

Barry gave a small smile and put a hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, Wally. We’ll figure this out.”

* * *

Most of the Leaguers ended up coming to the meeting at Mount Justice, or at least most of the ones that were on planet. Even some of the bigger names like Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman were there. Evidently, having one’s secret identity compromised, even that of a ‘sidekicks’, was a decent cause of League concern. Especially when the identity of the discoverer remained unknown.

Wally did end up getting chewed out a bit for not acting immediately when he realized his identity was in jeopardy, but he ended up being saved by Batman, of all people, who surmised that his stalker seemed pretty focused on Wally, so no other Leaguers are in danger. That, and all of the evidence Wally brought didn’t clearly connect him to his superhero alias, therefore his stalker must have pieced it together based on observation and not through any slip up on Wally’s part.

When challenged on this, because how could an average civilian figure that out, Batman simply stated, “It’s what I did with all of you. Who says someone else can’t?”

All in all, it was just a bad circumstance, though, one that should have been addressed much earlier, Batman made sure to note.

They decided on a plan of action; Wally would be watched as he walked to and from school, no detours, so that they could try and catch this guy, without arousing his suspicions, and he would stay at his uncles for the time being.

After the meeting, Wally was headed towards the zeta-tube, intending to go home, ‘cause he was exhausted.

However, he was stopped by his teammates, plus Roy, who must have shown up to for the league meeting but was late.

“Wally!” M’gann flew up to him.

He flinched but relaxed when he was enveloped by a hug.

“Wally, what was going on in there? The League rarely all get together for anything on such short notice.” Roy asked, seeming a little miffed that he missed it.

Wally didn’t answer right away, but then Dick came up to him. “Wally, what’s wrong?”

Wally rubbed the back of his neck. “…Someone found out my secret I.D.. This guy’s been stalking me for a while. He cornered me in an alleyway a few hours ago and I finally told Flash. The League was deciding what to do about the situation.”

They were dead silent for a moment. Then they all started bombarding him with questions.

“Do you know who this guy is?!”

“Did he threaten you?!”

“Did he hurt you?”

“Are you ok?!”

“Why didn’t you tell us?!”

“How long has this been happening?”

“Whoa! Slow down, yeesh.” Wally drag a hand across is face. “Uhhh, no, I don’t know who he is. No, he didn’t hurt me, I’m fine. He technically didn’t threaten me either. This has been happening for … about four months now, and I honestly… don’t know why I didn’t tell anyone.”

Wally’s shoulders sagged a bit. He messed up; it was obvious to him now. He should have told someone earlier; this whole fiasco could have been avoided if he had. He felt really, _really_ dumb, but also very relieved. At least it would be taken care of now, and that took a huge weight off his shoulders.

He was surprised when Dick squeezed him into a hug, though. “You idiot! Why didn’t you tell us? Why didn’t you tell _me_?”

Wally squeezed his eyes shut and returned Dick’s hug. “I don’t know Rob. I was being dumb.”

“Damn straight. You could have gotten killed by this guy and we’d be one the wiser.” Roy huffed, but his body language implied concern.

“Agreed. Wally, this is a team, and we’re supposed to have each other’s backs. It is near impossible for us to do that properly when we are unaware that one of our own are in danger.” Aqualad added, approaching him and putting a hand on Wally’s shoulder at that last part.

Wally felt embarrassed, ashamed, elated, happy, and relieved all at once. “I know that better now. I’m sorry guys.”

“You better, Baywatch.” Artemis punched him in the arm affectionately.

“What are you going to do now, Wally.” M’gann asked, visibly still worried.

“I’m going to be living with Flash for a while. Probably until they catch this guy.”

“Speaking of which,” Barry walked up to the group of them, smiling tiredly at them. “You ready to head back, Wally?”

Wally nodded and let go of Dick.

“I’ll text you later.” Dick whispered, and gave him a kiss, which Wally returned.

Wally smiled at him and waved goodbye to his team as he followed his uncle out.

* * *

Wally’s new arraignment worked for a while. It was actually kind of fun, living at Uncle Barry’s and Aunt Iris’ place. He and the team had a long talk about what happened over the last four months. And he felt a lot safer walking home knowing, and sometimes seeing, some of the other Leaguers, and even some of his teammates, looking out for him. Roy and Hal being the usual ones keeping an eye on him, and Dick even going as far as walking home with him some days. Wally felt so much better. He thought the nightmare was over.

It wasn’t. It got worse.

It happened one night, Wally was in the second-floor guest bedroom at his aunt and uncles house. He was having trouble sleeping, lying in bed, which was near the window. He kept tossing at turning, but he couldn’t get to sleep. He opened his eye and his blood ran cold. Something was casting a shadow through the window, across his bed and the floor. Wally’s breath started to get faster and he slowly, _very_ slowly, turned around to look through his window.

There he was met with the beady, blood-shot eyes, of a shadowed figure staring at him through _his widow_. _HIS SECOND STORY WINDOW._

Wally screamed. He screamed as loud as possible and launched himself out of bed and onto the floor. He kept screaming until his uncle came bursting through his bedroom door.

“Wally what’s wrong?! What happe--?!”

Wally pointed at the figure who was now scrambling away from the window.

Barry growled and ran down the stairs, leaving a confused Iris in his wake.

“Barry, what is going--?” Iris saw her nephew crying on the floor and immediately ran to comfort him. She wrapped her arms around him, running her hands through his hair and whispering words of comfort in his ear.

Not long after, Barry came back, empty-handed and looking furious. At least until he saw his wife on the floor with his crying nephew. He got down on the floor wrapped both of them in his arms, and held them quietly, explaining what happened to his wife, who was horrified.

Wally slept in their room the rest of that night, Wally slept in the bed with Iris, while Barry brought up a chair and did his best to sleep in that. Though not much sleeping was actually done.

The next morning, Barry helped Wally pack his things and he took him to Mount Justice.

Everyone was clued in that something happened the instant they saw Wally’s exhausted face.

“Wally, babe, what’s wrong?” Dick ran up to him and took his boyfriend face into his hands and looked into his tired eyes.

Wally leaned into his boyfriend’s touch, placing a hand on one of Dick’s. When he tried to answer his question, he started to cry, so Barry answered for him.

“The sick bastard followed Wally to my house. Wally caught him watching him while he slept.”

Wally quietly whimpered out. “I … I could see his e-eyes. I could see them watching me. I-I..”

Dick gaped at Barry, before pulling Wally into a tight hug. M’gann and Conner got up and brought the two of them to the couch, where Wally had a full breakdown.

Barry wanted to comfort his nephew, but his boyfriend and friends seemed to have that covered, so he went to Red Tornado and informed him of Wally’s new living arrangement. Once that was settled, Barry returned to the teens on the couch. All of them looked up at him as he approached.

“Until further notice, Wally will be staying at Mount Justice. Wally, you will be escorted to and from school. No more of this covert observation nonsense, you’ll have a Leaguer or a member of your team with you or nearby.” Barry announced.

Wally looked at his uncle, still upset but understanding. “Yes, Uncle Barry.”

Barry was willing to leave it at that…at first. But then certain thoughts started going through the man’s mind, and he realized he needed to make a hard choice.

Barry ran a hand across his face. “…And one more thing.” Barry fixed his gaze directly into Wally’s eyes. “Until this guy is caught, you won’t be going on missions of any kind. No patrol, no Young Justice missions, nothing. For the time being, Kid Flash is benched.”

Wally launched out of his seat. “What! But—wait—Uncle Barry!”

“No! No ‘buts’ Wally.” Barry sighed. “Please try to understand, this guy’s is not giving up easy. I want him to have as little access to you as possible. So, no missions, not until I’m sure your safe.”

The other teenagers in the room noticed the tension and backed up to give the two speedsters room to talk.

“I’m never ‘safe’ Barry! I’m dealing with people with guns and lasers and a million other things. I’m never ‘safe’ when I’m Kid Flash.”

Barry shouted back. “But you’re suppose to be safe as Wally West! You’re suppose to be living a normal life! This guy is crossing boundaries. He knows you more intimately that any rogue we’ve faced, and we have no idea what this guy is capable of!”

Barry took a deep breath, trying to put a reign on his emotions. “Wally, please, I’m just worried. I’m worried about how close this guy is getting. Boundaries don’t seem to matter to him anymore and if he hurt you…” Barry let out a shaky breath. “If he hurt you while you were supposed to be safe in my home, I’d never forgive myself.”

Wally looked at the floor. What Barry was saying starting to click. He wasn’t happy about it, but it was.

Barry went up to his nephew and hugged him. “I know this isn’t fair Wally. I know you love being Kid Flash, but I’m your mentor. More importantly, I’m you’re uncle. That means I’m suppose to keep you as safe as meta-humanly possible.”

Wally hugged back. “…I know, Barry.”

Barry leaned back a bit and ruffled Wally’s hair.

“…This wont last for forever, Wally. I promise. I won’t rest ‘til this guy is far- far away from you.”

* * *

Wally took to living at Mount Justice pretty well. Obviously, he hated being cooped up, but Conner would sometimes go on a friendly 50 mile per hour jog with him and wolf or something. He also loved eating Megan’s cooking, Roy came over more often, and he even got to hang out with Dick more. They’d spend their time hanging around Mount Justice, cuddling on the couch watching TV, or in his bed. Sometimes they’d go out to the bay and go swimming. All in all, it actually was really nice not having to worry, even if he didn’t get to go on missions.

But it did get lonely when all of them were on a mission and he had to stay behind.

Like today. They got called out for a quick mission in rural Mexico. His friends gave him a wave, pat on the back or a hug as they left, and Dick gave him a kiss. Wally watched them go and went back into the living room and started flipping through channels. News channels showed Wonder woman and Barry were helping Superman in Metropolis while Bruce, Oliver and Dina were at a charity gala in Star City. Wally knew Hal and John were off world with Guy and He was pretty sure Roy was on assignment as well. All in all, everyone was busy, and Wally was at Mount Justice alone.

Wally sighed, but was cheered up a bit when Wolf came up and licked him.

“Hey, boy. You down for throwing a frizz bee in the training room later?”

Wolf barked in agreement. Wally chuckled. “Okay, let me get something to eat, then we can play.”

Wally got up and went to the kitchen. He was opening the refrigerator when his phone dinged several times, indicating that he had text messages.

He though it was Dick, maybe messaging him from the bioship or something but when opened his phone, he realized it was from another unrecognized number. Wally felt his heart thunder in his chest.

**Do not ignore these texts or someone will get hurt.**

**I am sending you a location; you will meet me there, alone.**

**If you don’t respond or send a Leaguer or anyone else,**

**I will blow up a nearby hospital.**

**I will give you 15 minutes to respond.**

Wally started to hyperventilate, his hands were shaking, and he ended up sliding against the wall to the floor. His brain scrambled around to find a logical plan to get him out of this. All he could muster up was;

**And how do I know you aren’t bluffing.**

His response:

**Do you really want to risk that? You have no evidence that I am in any way. I’ve managed to find out who you are completely under the radar of the Justice League and they still can’t find me. You don’t know what I’m capable of. And if you don’t show, not only will I blow up a hospital, I’ll leave all of my evidence of your secret I.D. at the crime scene. It might not be enough to convince anyone under normal circumstances, but if it’s tied to a tragedy it might get enough interest from certain parties to warrant further investigation.**

**And if that isn’t enough.**

The guy sand a photo of a strange device in a white room with white tile:

**I’ve already planted 5 of these in the hospital. I will set them off if you don’t show.**

**Your life, the lives of your friends and family, even of your little boyfriend, would be over.**

**I’m sending you the location now. You have 30 minutes to arrive.**

A final text that held the location pinged onto his phone. It was some warehouse far away from, Mt. Justice, Central or even Gotham city. In a way, he’s be stranded.

Wally threw his phone and broke down crying. He couldn’t say no, not when this guy might kill hundreds of people.

Shakily he got to his feet and ran to get his suit. The instant he had it on he was out the door, leaving his phone on the kitchen floor.

* * *

Wally didn’t know what to think when he saw the warehouse, but the giant, looming building seemed significantly more terrifying with the knowledge of who was inside.

Wally looked at the door, the dread filling his body was absolutely suffocating him. He felt like he was going to die and if this guy was as dangerous as Wally though he was, he could very well be.

With agonizing caution, Wally approached the door, quietly pushing it open. He slipped into the front room, which was crowded with monitors and other machinery. Upon closer inspection, Wally saw that the monitors all had different images displayed. Some where news channels, some were street cameras near his house, some were even security feeds from his school.

Wally wanted to puke. Or die. He didn’t think he cared which one it was as long as it got the lurching sensation in his stomach to go away.

He backed away from the monitors against the wall, but upon making contact he jumped away from it at the feeling of pins. There, on the wall, was a large corkboard, filled with pictures of him at school, on mission, … some were even of him sleeping. Not to mention some of the ones that had his friends, Dick or even his classmates had them scratched out.

Wally felt dizzy, he thought he was going pass out.

He wanted to run so, so bad. He was one of the fastest people alive, he could be back at Mount Justice with Dick and his friends and family in a matter of minutes. Yet the thought of what this guy could do if he left made it feel like he was wearing cement shoes. It was like his powers were gone again.

He wanted to go home.

Wally noticed a jar ajar nearby. Despite the fear, dread, and despair growing within him, he crept towards it and peered inside. The room was dark, cold, on the smaller side, and was filled with filing cabinets. But there was a light emanating from the far corner of the room.

Taking a deep breath, Wally quietly went to take a step down the stairs, intending to sneak up on the person in the room. However, the floor of the room was covered in a thick layer of ice and he slipped, fell and ended up sliding a short distance into the room. Wally tried to find his grip, so he could get up.

Then there was the sound of something shifting, a creaking sound, and a sudden snapping noise. It took Wally a second, and a searing pain in his leg, for him to realize that the snapping noise was the sound of his leg breaking.

Wally screamed and howled in pain. He hiccupped and sobbed, tears flowing like rivers down his face. The pain was overwhelming and whatever landed on his leg was applying pressure to the break and making it worst.

He looked behind him and saw that someone had push a filing cabinet on his leg. He shifted around so he was facing the cabinet and tried to pull his leg out from under it. That made the pain worst, so he used his uninjured leg to try and lift/roll the cabinet off. It still hurt, but it was better than the alternative.

He had managed to shift it off his leg enough to the point where one good kick would free him, when he noticed a figure looming over him on the other side of the cabinet. 

It was him; Wally recognized his beady, bloodshot eyes anywhere. He wasn’t wearing a hoodie or ball cap anymore though. His oily, wiry hair stuck out in several directions. He had an unkempt, unshaven beard. He was wearing a wrinkled, dirty, long sleeve button up, dark wrinkled jeans and ratty shoes.

He looked disgusting and unkempt, but overall normal. This was a normal man.

Wally did his best to protect his injured leg, while subtly getting into position to kick the cabinet at this guy.

It was dead silent for a moment, then;

“Welcome, Wally.” His voice rasped out.

Fighting back tears, Wally hissed through gritted teeth, “Some welcome. Threaten to kill hundreds of people then you break my fucking leg. You’re a shitty host.”

The guy pauses for a moment. “…I wouldn’t have hurt anyone. There is no hospital, I just said whatever I needed to to get you to come here. I knew you wouldn’t keep ignoring me if you though innocent people were in danger. You wouldn’t do that.”

Wally felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. There was no hospital, and now we was in this guy’s clutches with a broken leg, and far away from anyone who can help, with no easy way out. Wally felt so stupid and he wanted to burst into tears and just lay down and wait for the world to fade away.

But, deep down, there was that one part of him, the part of him that made him tell Nabu to fuck off, the part of him that went with Dick during the failsafe simulation, the part of him that pushed him to get the heart to Queen Perdita, that part of him that made him stubborn and obstinate at times, was nagging at him and growing in ferocity.

If he was going down, he was going to drag it out and be as much of a pain in the ass as possible.

His foot was almost into kicking position. He just needed to by more time.

“So? You’ve got me here. What do you want now?”

“…I have to admit, I’m not sure. I always thought you were amazing; you are so bright for someone your age. Intelligent, brave, compassionate, you even managed to re-create whatever experiment gave the flash his powers, despite seemingly being about half his age. You far surpass any of your peers and you don’t abuse that, not in any way that matters. You stepped up and used your gifts for good. I was in awe about how much of a good person you are. That’s why I got so angry.”

This guy’s eyes got dark and his mouth turned into a deep frown.

“You started to ignore me. You wouldn’t pay attention to any of my messages, or even read them. Then I found out you were with that boy, Dick Grayson.” His voice got lower, angrier, as he hissed. “Why would you bother yourself with him? He had everything in his life handed to him on a silver platter while you had to work for it. You’re better that—”

Wally snarled and shouted at him. “Don’t you fucking dare! You have no idea what Dick has been through, or what he’s sacrificed to get to where he is! He’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever known, and I’m grateful, every single day, that he’s as in love with me as I am with him! YOU DON’T KNOW SHIT!”

His foot was nearly there, just a few more seconds.

“…Please don’t yell at me Wally, I hate it when you yell. Want I meant to say is that he wasn’t like you or even me for that matter. Look at all you’ve done or look at all the equipment you saw in the front room. I made all that myself, including the software and programs on in. It’s basically completely untraceable.”

Wally growled under his breath. This guy was seriously comparing himself to _Dick_. Dick could take out his entire stupid network with a couple taps on his keyboard. But, Wally bit his tongue for a second; his foot was in position.

“You really think that sounds impressive; I’ve got news for you.” Wally adjusted his position. “You’ve got nothing on Dick.”

With all the force he could muster, Wally vibrated his uninjured leg and kicked the cabinet, sending it flying into that freak and pinning him beneath it. Wally scrambled on the ice, using as much momentum as he could to drag himself across the ice and back up the steps.

Wally could hear the guy screaming and shouting at him to stop, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care if he had to crawl back to Mount Justice on all fours, but he _was_ going home.

Wally crawled into the front room again and made his way to the front door. He reaches for the handle and pulled, but it didn’t give. Wally frantically started tugging on the door handle and he came to the horrifying realization that the door was locked.

“Nononono, NO!” Wally slammed his fist against the door. Suddenly he heard something shifting around in the iced room, the guy must be getting up. Wally didn’t have time to break it down and run. He needed to find another way out. His eyes darted around for another way out. He saw a hallway that presumably lead to the rest of the warehouse.

Wally steadily got up, putting all his weight on his unbroken leg and he hobbling as fast as he could down that hall, using the wall for support. He saw a door at the end of the halls, pushed it open and was greeted by the large storage area of the warehouse. It was big, but it had to have another exit. Wally tried to make his way through the aisles of storage shelves, looking for another door that would take him outside.

Then he heard stumbling and scuffing behind him, then a gunshot. Then there was a searing pain in his other leg. Wally collapsed onto the floor screaming in agony. He felt his leg and lo and behold, there was a bleeding bullet wound in his thigh on his once uninjured leg.

Wally put a hand over the wound and pressed trying to stop the blood flow. His hands becoming slick with blood and Wally started to smell copper in the air. The warm liquid was seeping out around his hands and starting to pool on the floor.

He’s two legs down and no way out. This was the end; he could feel it. As he heard this guy slowly walk up behind him, he went to his happy place, with Dick out on patrol or at the movie theatre, with Barry after taking down a rogue, with his team in their downtime. The places where he was the most at ease.

The guy rolled him over with his foot, Wally groaning in protest.

His everything was aching and throbbing in pain and he was starting to get so tired. He just wanted this to be over.

“…I’m sorry, Wally, I have some medical supplies and gauze to fix that. I didn’t want to, but you made me.”

Wally swallowed and grin his teeth together. “I …didn’t make you…you do anything. You’re just…a piece…of shit.”

Wally didn’t look at him, he was busy trying to focus on Dick’s smile and deep blue eyes, but he heard the guy sigh, disappointed. “…I’ll make this up to you, Wally. I promise, but you’re going to have to be more cooperative.”

Wally let out a raspy laugh. “Buddy, ask any creep … or psycho on … this side of the U.S.. I’m anything ... but...cooperative.”

“Maybe that’s something you should learn. You’d never know who’s help you could get if you do.”

That actually made Wally look at this guy. His sunken eyes and overall ratty appearance. This guy looked like life just chewed him up and spit him out and that made Wally laugh, whether it was because it was actually funny or because of blood loss, he couldn’t tell.

“Haha..ha, I can’t believe I was scared of you … for so long. You’re smart, probably a genius … but you’re also pathetic. Couldn’t confront to me face to face. Even had to break my leg to make sure I wouldn’t leave. Always had …to give…yourself…the upper hand. And …thinking … after everything you did to me … that I want any of your fucking help. Dude, I don’t even know … your name, and I don’t want to…cause I don’t care. I don’t care anymore. I don’t care how much you idolize me. I don’t care how much effort you put into this whole fuck fest, and I don’t care about you. You’re not a major factor to my life, and you never will be. I have other people, … who care about me… a lot more than you, for that.”

Suddenly there were hands on Wally’s throat.

“Shut up. Don’t you dare talk that way to me.” This guy snarled and started to squeeze Wally’s throat.

Wally let go of his leg and reach up to grab the guys hands, trying to pull them away, with his own blood slicked ones. All the while a lazy, tired smile was on his face.

“W-Why should I? …It’s the truth. I don’t care…about you. And after this is over, my friends … will find you. They’ll chase you … to the ends of the earth. They won’t let you rest. You’ll be locked up … in some far away prison. And I … still …wouldn’t…care.”

The edges of Wally’s vision were going black, but he tried not to let his smile fade, even as tears were leaking out of his eyes. He was done giving this guy satisfaction, so he smiled, and focused on Barry, Iris, his team, and Dick. He tried to focus on Dick’s laugh, his smile, his kiss. God he could almost hear his voice, over the ringing in his ears.

Wait a minute. That wasn’t in his head, that was—

“WALLY!” Dick’s voice cried, and suddenly the guy was tackled off of him. By Conner, Wally believed, if the roar of rage was anything to go by.

Wally gasped for air and was gently pulled into a stilling position by Dick, who was cradling him, shouting; trying to keep his attention. “Wally, _Wally_ , please look at me. Say something, please!”

“Dick.” Wally croaked, smile getting wider. Dick was here, it looked like the others were too. They were here, he was safe. “My hero *cough*.”

Wally felt people working on his legs and looked down to see Kaldur putting pressure on his bullet wound, while Artemis was evaluating the damage to his broken leg. Standing protectively over the four of them was Roy, bow drawn back and pointed at the guy, who was being either chased around by a surprisingly furious M’gann or an absolutely enraged Conner.

“Aqualad, it’s a clean break, I don’t think he’ll be able to walk on it.” Artemis informed, anger dripping from every word.

“Understood, hand me some gauze, then get to work on a splint.” Kaldur ordered.

“Wally, look at me. What _happened_? Tell me what happened and stay awake!” Dick pulled Wally’s face to look at him again. Domino mask couldn’t hide how worried he was, and Wally though that he saw him starting to cry.

“’M sorry, Dickie…shouldn’t h’ve run off … threatened to blow up a hospital. H’d to come. Broke m’ leg … Couldn’t run. So sorry, Dickie … ’m so s’rry.”

Dick hushed him and kissed him on the mouth, then the forehead. “Shh, be sorry later. Stay awake right now, okay, Wall-man. Flash, Superman and Wonder Woman will be here any second.”

“…Barry?”

Wally barely got the name out before his uncle came bursting into the room. The man took a quick glance around the room, before his eyes zeroed in on his nephew.

“ _WALLY!_ ” Flash zipped over and quickly scanned over his injuries. He was crying, Wally could tell. Barry brought his hand up to Wally’s cheek. “Oh, god, Wally I’m so sorry.”

“’s not your fault. I shouldn’t’ve—”

Suddenly there was more shouting, and they all looked over to see Conner pinning the guy to the floor. The instant Barry saw the strange man, he put two and two together, and he snarled. He got up and walked over the Conner and the man and gave Conner a look that said ‘Get out of the way, our you’re going to be a casualty’

Conner got the message loud and clear, and got up and pulled M’gann to a safe distance. Barry waited until the guy was up enough, to the point where he could look him in the eyes and then kicked him, hard enough to break ribs. Barry did it again and again, with no sign of stopping.

Everyone looked on, horrified, but no one was sure if they could stop him. Wally was practically paralyzed, rarely had he seen this side of Uncle Barry. The last time it happened, some rogued had kidnapped Aunt Iris and she had gotten a broken arm. It was definitely one of the most terrifying missions he had ever been on.

It was still terrifying.

Wally was about to shout for Barry to stop, when Wonder Woman and Superman both appeared and tried to pull him of the guy.

“Flash, stop!!”

“You’re going to kill him!”

“ ** _THAT’S THE IDEA!_** ”

Wally’s eyes widened at that. They don’t kill. They _never_ kill. That’s the rule!

He started to hyperventilate, and he watched his Uncle thrash against Diana and Clark. His head started to spin, and everything was going dark.

Dick must have noticed him fading, because he started lightly slapping his face, trying to keep him awake. “Wally, _Wally_. Pay attention to me. Look at me, Wally!”  
Wally felt his eyelids getting heavy. He was so tired.

“Wally! WALLY! BARRY!”

That must have gotten Barry’s attention, because suddenly Barry was there too.

“Wally! Son, please! Stay awake!”

Wally wanted to, he really did, but he was so tired. All he could do was mutter apologies as his vision slowly faded to black. The last thing he remembers is seeing Dick and Barry’s terrified faces, crying for him to stay awake.

* * *

When Wally came to, he was in a white room and on a really soft bed, his legs bandaged and propped up. He had an I.V. in his arm.

He tried to get up, to look around and see what was going on, but his body vehemently protested against that and he was forced to lay back down. He settled for turning his head to the side, where he saw Dick, in a chair, holding his hand and top half sleeping on the bed.

Wally gave Dick a tired smile and squeezed his hand.

“Hm …Wally?” Dick slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He looked at Wally, who was smiling softly at him.

“Hey, Dickie.”

Dick’s jaw dropped to the floor and, after a moment, he launched himself at Wally, pulling him into a deep kiss. He placed his hand back of Wally’s head to pull him in closer, while Wally just gently put a hand on the side of Dick’s face.

When they finally pulled away for air Dick looked Wally in the eyes, his hands going to ether side of Wally’s face and stroking his cheeks with his thumbs. Wally gently held Dick’s wrist.

“…Nice to see you too, hun.”

Dick gave a hollow laugh, a couple tears falling. “Oh, you ass. You had me worried sick.”

Wally wiped the tears away and kissed Dick’s cheek. “Sorry, I’ll stop.”

Wally settled back into the pillows while Dick sat back in his chair, not once letting go of Wally’s hand.

Wally sighed. “So, what happened?”

The raven-haired boy rubbed his thumb against his boyfriend’s knuckles. “…You passed out. Barry was in a panic…I—we all were. So, Barry ended up rushing you to Mount Justice where you got patched up. You’ve been out of it for a couple days.”

Wally squeezed Dick’s hand again. “…what happened to—”

“He was sent to a federal hospital. He was pretty messed up; Barry didn’t go easy on him. He’s scheduled to be sent to Arkham as soon as he heals. Martian Manhunter went into his mind and erased all his memories of you and the League. He won’t be bothering you again, they made sure of it.” 

Wally sighed in relief.

I was over. It was finally over.

He couldn’t help the few tears that got squeezed out, whether they were from happiness and relief or from the lingering terror and anguish, he didn’t know. Dick quickly and gently whipped them away.

“It’s okay, Wally. It’s going to be okay.”

Wally leaned into the touch.

Suddenly there was scuffling outside the room, some loud thumping, and the door burst open. There stood his teammates whose expressions varied from concern to elation.

“ _WALLY!_ ”

They all rushed him and hugged him, minding his legs.

Wally managed to wheeze out, “H-Hey, guys!”

Artemis was the first to recover. “You had use worried you, idiot!”

Kaldur gave a sigh of relief. “You lost a lot off blood. We thought you weren’t going to make it.”

“Sorry … How did you guys find me? I didn’t think I told anyone.”

“You left your phone behind.” Roy explained. “I went back to Mount Justice cause my assignment finished early. You weren’t there, but I found your phone on the floor. I went through your text messages. When I found out you were with that guy, I called the team and sent them the address, who in turn sent it to Flash. Then all of us got over there as fast as we could.”

“It was lucky Roy got back early, we might not have gotten there in time,” Conner added.

That was sobering. If Roy had gotten back any later or had his phone been discovered by his teammates when they got back… Wally shook his head. He didn’t want to think about it. It was over, and he was safe. That was all that mattered.

“…Thank you, guys. I … I’m pretty sure I owe you my life on this one.”

“Don’t mention it. Just don’t do something like that again, Baywatch. I don’t want to see Flash that pissed off ever again.”

Flash. _Barry!_

“Where’s uncle Barry?!”

“Right here, kiddo.” Barry was suddenly at the door, in costume, but his cowl was down, and he looked so tired, but relieved to see his nephew awake.

“Barry! --” 

The older man was across the room and hugging him before he could get another word out.

“God,WallyI’msogladyou’reokay,Iwassoworried.”

“Hngh! Barry, you’re speed talking.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Barry backed up and ran a hand through Wally’s hair. “I’m just happy you’re alright. It scared the crap out of me when you passed out. I though you were going too…”

Barry cut himself off.

Wally looked at his lap. “…Barry, I’m sorry I just ran into that guys hands and put myself in danger, I know I was…”

Barry stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “Wally, this guy threatened to blow up a hospital and with it your secret identity. You had no evidence to the contrary and this guy was pretty…unhinged, if what Martian Manhunter told me is anything to go by.”

Wally’s brow was scrunched in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Barry rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with, but he was basically existing on a different plain of reality from everyone else. The guy was all sorts of wrong in the head.”

Wally felt his skin crawl, but he tried to ignore it. “…So, if he doesn’t remember me, does that mean he’s locked up in Arkham with no idea why he’s there?”

M’gann took Wally’s other hand. “Uncle J’onzz erased his memory enough so that he doesn’t know what you look like or who you are, but he still has vague memories of what he did. I think he just remembers attacking some random kid.”

Wally sighed in relief. At least he didn’t have to worry about the guy anymore.

Suddenly Barry’s communicator buzzed. He answered it. “Hey, Bats…Right now? Come on! Wally just—How big are we talking here? …Wow, okay, yeah. That’s big, but can’t-- *sigh* Are you sure no one else can cover? … Fine I’ll be there.”

Barry gave and apologetic look. “…Wally I’m—”

“Don’t worry, Barry. I get it. Make sure you get a souvenir for me!”

Barry chuckled and ruffled Wally’s hair. “Will do. Okay kids, be back in a flash!”

The older Flash stuck around long enough to hear the groans of the teens and then took off.

As soon as he was gone, a timer was distantly heard going off.

“Oh! That must me my ‘Get Well’ cupcakes.” M’gann flew out the door to go get them.

“Aww, she didn’t have to do that.” Wally mused.

“It’s M’gann, of course she did.”

“But you’re going to eat a proper meal before you eat even one of those cupcakes.” Kaldur put a tray down in front of Wally that had a plate piled high with food on it.

Speedster diets were a hell of a trip.

Wally looked at Dick and giving him a pleading look. “Feed me?”

Dick gives Wally an ‘Are you serious’ look.

Wally pretended to be as feeble as possible, talking faintly and sinking into the pillows. “P-please…for me? I … feel so weak.”

Dick rolls his eyes but picked up a fork. “Do you want me to make airplane noises too?”

Wally laughed, but laid back and let Dick feed him. Other teens in the room either rolling their eyes or chuckling at the sight. Artemis even gave them a “God, you two are so gross.”

They all just sat in the room, talking in with each other in between Wally’s bites. When M’gann returned she passed the cupcakes around and they all sat and enjoyed themselves, just talking.

Wally was completely at ease, busted legs aside. The nightmare was over, and he was safe with his friends. That guy, whoever he was, couldn’t get to him now. And ask he joked with his friends, ate M’gann’s cupcakes, and made plans with Dick to get a wheelchair and sneak out for some one time, as soon as he was well enough for it, Wally felt like things were going to be okay.

* * *

“Mallory Diggory, 30, male; Antisocial Personality Disorder, Delusions of Grandeur and Delusion of Influence, with narcissistic tendencies. Patient:057. In custody for long term stalking and assault of an underage young man, despite not being able to recall the young man’s name or physical description, warranting the possible presence of Dissociative Amnesia.” The elder psychologist read from the man’s file, while a younger psychologist took down notes, in front of said man’s cell.

Said man, Mallory Diggory, was sitting on the floor in a straitjacket, staring at nothing, and whispering to himself. His oily hair covering his beady, bloodshot eyes.

“Sounds pretty tame considering what we usually deal with. At least he doesn’t have powers.” The younger psychologist noted.

“Hmm, says here he’s suffered from long term bullying in his school years. Records even show several instances of hospitalization. Parent’s apparently weren’t around much, and he mostly stayed with his grandmother, who was elderly and couldn’t get around. Too bad. At the time he seemed like a bright kid. Good grades, decent personality, had a knack for programming that could have gotten him somewhere. It’s a shame.”

“A _shame_. Benny, this guy stalked and attacked some poor kid. Whoever he used to be is far past redemption at this point.”

The elder doctor turned to chide the younger for his lack of proper bedside manner, when shouts echoed from down the hall, asking for assistance. The two doctors walked out of sight.

Not that Mallory cared about them, they weren’t important, and he had better things to do than worry about some quack psychologists.

He was too busy focusing on his fuzzy memory of the last few months. He remembered; he was working on something … something important. He was trying to … to find someone—No! he was trying to help someone. Someone important. Yes, he was trying to look out for them, get to know them. They were special. _Very_ special. And they were going to help him too. He didn’t know how, but he had a feeling they would. But he couldn’t remember the person name … or their face. It was just … fuzzy. The person was just … not there. A blank in his memory. Nothing more than a shadow in his mind when it came to the last few months. And no matter how hard he tried he … just … couldn’t …

There was the sound of scuffling and shouting emenating from down the hall and, annoyed, Mallory looked up to see who was interrupting his thoughts. Several doctors were trying to wrangle a patient into a cell.

“Ms. Isley! Please stop struggling or we will be forced to put you in isolation!”

She must have finally stopped struggling, because she was then being escorted down the hall by only two masked guards, with a small parade of doctors following a safe distance behind.

Mallory didn’t care about the doctors, nurses, guards, or even the woman they were escorting. They all were irrelevant to him. But in the scene before him one thing stuck out that absolutely entranced him.

And that was the woman’s bright red hair.


End file.
